Here are a few multiple choice questions on poetry. Please answer
for practice and use for discussion with your group about poetry and the
elements you'll need to recognize. (We will spend some time on this in
class today as well.)

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn , too late, they grieved it on its way
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, em now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
(questions/keys found here & adopted with gratitude.)

1. Which of the following IS NOT an attitude one of the men displays?
a. resistingly aware
b. unexpected melancholia
c. determined rage
d. wistful regret
e. solemn objectivity
2. The most important shift in the passage occurs in
a. line 16
b. line 4
c. line 10
d. both a and b
e. none of the above
3. How does the author suggest one should meet death?
a. prayerful acceptance
b. challenging preparedness
c. solemn resistance
d. amiable resignation
e. angry opposition
4. Where does the author reveal his ambiguity toward his father and his
impending death?
a. the various characterizations of men
b. line 17 - "Curse, bless..."
c. "...dying of the light"
d. "...your fierce tears..."
e. reference to death as "that good night"
5. Personification is NOT exhibited in which of the following?
a. "Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay," (line 8)
b. "Old age should burn and rave at close of day;" (line 2)
c. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." (line 3)
d. "Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay," (line 14)
e. "Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight," (line10)

DEPARTMENTAL

An ant on the tablecloth
Ran into a dormant moth
Of many times his size.
He showed not the least surprise.
His business wasn't with such.
He gave it scarcely a touch,
And was off on his duty run.
Yet if he encountered one
Of the hive's enquiry squad
Whose work is to find out God
And the nature of time and space,
He would put him onto the case.
Ants are a curious race;
One crossing with hurried tread
The body of one of their dead
Isn"t given a moment's arrest-
Seems not even impressed.
But he no doubts report to any
With whom he crosses antennae,
And they no doubt report
To the higher up at court.
Then word goes forth in Formic:
"Death's come to Jerry McCormic,
Our selfless forager Jerry.
Will the special Janizary
Whose ofice it is to bury
The dead of the commissary
Go bring him home to his people.
Lay him in state on a sepal.
Wrap him for shroud in a petal.
Embalm him with ichor of nettle.
This is the word of your Queen."
And presently on the scene
Appears a solemn mortician;
And taking formal position
With feelers calmlty atwiddle,
Seizes the dead by the middle,
And heaving him high in the air,
Carries him out of there.
No one stands round to stare.
It is nobody else"s affair.
It couldn't be called ungentle.
But how thoroughly departmental.
Robert Frost (1874-1963)
1. "Departmental" can best be described as
A. The product of attentive observation
B. An account of nature
C. An allegory for human idiosyncrasies
D. A light, simple narrative
E. A reflection upon the author's life
2. There is a shift in the poem from
A. Descriptive narrative to pensive editorial
B. Careful observation to personal involvement
C. Omniscient description to reproachful exposition
D. Individual account to universal significance
E. There is no apparent shift
3. The tone of the poem can best be described as
A. Playful observation
B. Scornful emphasis
C. Light description
D. Satirical exposition
E. Detached omniscience
4. "Arrest" in line 16 most likely means
A. incarceration
B. admonition
C. capture
D. detention
E. seizure
5. What rhetorical strategy is exhibited in "Death's come to Jerry McCormic,"
(line 23)
I. Personification
II. Metaphor
III. Euphemism
A. I only
B. II only
C. III only
D. I and II only
E. None of the above
6. "Atwiddle " in line most likely means
A. upright
B. alert
C. flaccid
D. quiescent
E. inquisitive
7. The major shift in the piece occurs in
A. Line 8
B. Line 13
C. Line 23
D. Line 33
E. Line 42
8. The author"s depiction of ants is best described as
A. indifferently mechanical
B. mundanely subsistent
C. hierarchically divided
D. selfishly compassionless
E. fantastically human
9. Lines 42-43 suggest that the author
A. meant the piece to be a statement about departmental action
B. holds the death practices of ants in reproach
C. finds the ways in which all species treat death intriguing
D. meant to place emphasis on his own opinion
E. is warning the reader against judging other species against our own standards
10.What is the author's attitude toward departmental societies?
A. outraged abhorrence
B. interested approval
C. indifferent observation
D. bitter detest
E. satirical disapproval
DO NOT GO GENTLY INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT
Answers
1. Which of the following IS NOT an attitude one of the men displays?
a. resistingly aware - wise; "know dark is right...do not go gentle"
b. unexpected melancholia - wild; "too late, they grieved it"
c. determined rage - what author suggests/repeats, none display
d. wistful regret - good; "deeds might have danced"
e. solemn objectivity - grave; "see with blinding sight"
2. The most important shift in the passage occurs in
a. line 16 - general (suggestion/characterization) to specific (author's father)
b. line 4 - author's suggestion to characterization of men
c. line 10 - distractor, middle of poem
d. both a and b - both true, but a is "the most important"
e. none of the above
3. How does the author suggest one should meet death?
a. prayerful acceptance - "I pray" (referring to father, line 17), never suggests
accepting
b. challenging preparedness - MOST correct
c. solemn resistance - "rage against the dying..." (resistance), not solemn rage
d. amiable resignation - "wise men know dark is right" (resignation, line 4), no
amiability
e. angry opposition - "rage against..." repeated often, doesn't suggest
anger/bitterness
4. Where does the author reveal his ambiguity toward his father and his
impending death?
a. the various characterizations of men - he can't categorize his father
b. line 17 - "Curse, bless...," contradictory reactions to death
c. "...dying of the light" - distractor, personification
d. "...your fierce tears..." - distractor, unusual juxtaposition
e. reference to death as "that good night" - ambiguous pun, not refer to father
only
5. Personification is NOT exhibited in which of the following?
a. "Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay," (line 8) - deeds danced
b. "Old age should burn and rave at close of day;" (line 2) - old age burn and rave
c. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." (line 3) - dying light
d. "Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay," (line 14) - eyes blaze
e. "Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight," (line10) - men CAN
catch/sing